Tragedy of young dad killed by milk allergy after a holiday meal

A man with severe food allergies died after eating a meal made by friends on holiday. Christopher Hindley, 35, of Lord Street, Bollington, went into anaphylactic shock on May 27, 2010, a month before his second child was born.

A man with severe food allergies died after eating a meal made by friends on holiday.

Christopher Hindley, 35, of Lord Street, Bollington, went into anaphylactic shock on May 27, 2010, a month before his second child was born.

Bolton Coroner’s Court was told he was allergic to dairy produce but it wasn’t known which ingredients triggered the fatal reaction.

At an inquest Neil Harris said they were on a regular golfing holiday to St Andrews in Scotland.

They ate ‘poor man’s oysters’ – a South African dish made with sausage – and spaghetti bolognese in their rented cottage 15 minutes before Mr Hindley felt unwell.

He said: "Chris complained of shortness of breath and that he didn’t feel well.

"He went back to his room and asked for help using his EpiPen, then he asked me to call an ambulance."

Friends used the EpIPen – an insulin injection used to treat allergic reactions – and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before the ambulance arrived, but Mr Hindley died soon after at hospital in Dundee.

A pathologist at Royal Bolton Hospital said anaphylaxis was the probable cause of death. Mr Hindley, who also suffered from asthma and underlying kidney disease, was being treated by allergy expert Professor Adnan Custovic, who told the court that microscopic amounts of dairy produce could have triggered the reactions.

He said: "We do not know the dose which will promote an allergic reaction for milk. We do know the threshold is extremely low – microgrammes."

Mr Hindley’s wife Joanne said they had discovered he was allergic in 2003 when he had a severe reaction to an omelette and he had reacted to buttermilk the week before he died.

She said: "He had a really bad reaction, he went up and slept for about 24 hours but then he was okay.

"Two or three days later he was back to normal again."

Recording a narrative verdict, Alan Walsh, deputy coroner for Manchester West, said: "On the balance of probability, Mr Hindley died from the ingestion of food containing dairy products. We do know that his food that evening was prepared with tomato powder which was brought from South Africa. The evidence is that it is not unusual for pre-prepared tomato products to contain milk powder and it's also commonly found in sausage."

Mr Hindley’s father Stephen, who lives in Bolton, said: "His friends did everything they could do. It’s particularly important that they do not feel in any way to blame."